核电厂安全文化与发展

核电厂的安全问题必须得到应有的重视.核电厂的安全文化由以下两个方面组成:第1是体制,由单位的政策和管理者的活动所确定;第2是每个人的响应,这些人在上述体制中工作,并从中受益.提出了核安全文化的起源、特性和发展,以及核安全文化的建设与提高.     

国外屋顶绿化推广的政策分析与启示

分析了屋顶绿化的生态价值和经济效益,介绍了国内外屋顶绿化政策及实施情况,探讨了如何在我国城市化进程中,通过相关政策和技术标准的运用,不断推广屋顶绿化,充分发挥其对城市环境保护和生态服务的作用。     

农业面源污染的政策成因分析

从农业发展政策的角度出发,分析了农业发展政策从制定、执行到监督的环节中影响农业面源污染防治效果的因素;指出面源污染日益严重的政策成因是现有农业发展政策与农村环境保护体系的双轨制脱钩运行;建议构建一套把农业发展与农村环境保护有效地协调在可持续发展框架内的生态农业政策体系。     

Finding Common Ground: How Advocacy Coalitions Succeed in Protecting Environmental Flows1

Abstract: This paper reviews several recent case studies in which states or countries have strengthened their protection of environmental flows to explore the key policy, stakeholder, and scientific elements that contributed to these advances in water management. A conceptual framework is developed to describe the actions of interest groups and individuals, how environmental flow issues get onto the formal agenda of decision makers, the events and conditions which precipitate this attention, the role of science and scientific uncertainty, and how interactions and dialog among individuals and groups with different interests lead to changes in state and national statutes. In general, the review found that changing policies is a result of actions of informed groups of interested parties using science and information to inform both the public and decision makers about the need for action and about the specific action needed. In almost all cases, environmental flow issues make it onto the formal agenda of institutions through one or more precipitating events, often legal challenges that call into question the existing legal framework for water management. Significantly, in almost all cases the engagement between advocacy coalitions with different and often opposing views results in reframing the issues to provide a common approach or solution upon which the competing coalitions can agree.     

Transboundary River Floods and Institutional Capacity1

Abstract: While transboundary flood events have become more frequent on a global scale the past two decades, they appear to be overlooked in the international river basin (IRB) cooperation and management arena. The present study therefore combined geopolitical measures with biophysical and socioeconomic variables in an attempt to identify the IRBs with adequate institutional capacity for management of transboundary floods. It also classified basins that would possibly benefit from enlarging the institutional capacity related to transboundary floods. Of the 279 known IRBs, only 78 were represented by a transboundary rivers institution. A mere eight of the 153 identified institutions had transboundary flooding listed as an issue in their mandate. Overall, 43 basins, where transboundary floods were frequent during the period 1985‐2005, had no institutional capacity for IRBs. The average death and displacement tolls were found to be lower in the 37 basins with institutional capacity, even though these basins experienced twice as much transboundary floods with significant higher magnitudes than those in basins without institutional capacity. Overall, the results suggested that institutional capacity plays a role in the reduction of flood‐related casualties and affected individuals. River basins such as the Juba‐Shibeli, Han, Kura‐Araks, Ma, Maritsa, Po, Coco/Segovia, Grijalva, Artibonite, Changuinola, Coatan Achute, and Orinoco experienced more than one transboundary river flood, but have not yet set up any institutions for such events, or signed any appropriate treaties focused on floods. These basins were therefore recommended to consider focusing attention on this apparent lack of institutional capacity when it comes to managing transboundary flood events.     

The safety policies and practices of community multi-purpose recreation facilities

This research investigated the under-explored area of safety in multi-purpose recreation facilities (MPRFs). Facility managers and other managerial staff (key informants) from four MPRFs in Victoria, Australia participated in semi-structured interviews. Safety was considered important from Occupational Health and Safety (OH&S), business viability and legal liability perspectives but not from a health promotion or public health point of view. Most implemented injury prevention measures required gymnasium and pool staff or users to change their behaviours. Awareness of safety standards was higher for some operational areas (e.g. aquatics, child-care) than others (e.g. gymnasium, group fitness activities). Key informants struggled to keep abreast of legislation changes and they relied on commercial, regulatory, and industry information sources rather than evidence of best practice. Reported factors influencing safety in MPRFs were classified into three types: internal (e.g. training, culture); external (e.g. weather, demographic change); and governance (e.g. insurance, industry standards). Comprehensive, relevant and accessible industry safety standards, which focus not only on OH&S but equally on health promotion principles and public health perspectives linked to injury prevention, are required. Training is needed to reflect these broader and equally important perspectives. Health/injury, fitness/recreation and insurance sector links should be improved to ensure a consistent, sustainable approach to safety.     

The effect of the exposure time on the value of a manSievert averted

The basis of the manSievert as a unit for collective radiation dose is discussed and previous recommendations are considered for how much should be spent to avert a collective dose of 1 manSv. New calculations are given using the J-value method. It is shown that the value to be assigned to averting a manSievert depends on the duration of averted exposure as well as on the net discount rate and the loan rate thought to be appropriate. Different figures will result depending on whether the exposed group consists of workers or the general public. The variation with dose duration is so large that it is not possible to recommend a single figure for the value of a manSievert. Instead, tables are given at two conservative, loan and net discount rates for the value of a manSievert as a function of exposure time. The base data for the J-value method need to be updated annually, and this means that the values given in the tables will increase over time as people live longer and become richer.     

Are Bavarian Forests (southern Germany) at risk from ground-level ozone? Assessment using exposure and flux based ozone indices

Exposure and flux-based indices of O₃ risk were compared, at 19 forest locations across Bavaria in southern Germany from 2002 to 2005; leaf symptoms on mature beech trees found at these locations were also examined for O₃ injury. O₃ flux modelling was performed using continuously recorded O₃ concentrations in combination with meteorological and soil moisture data collected from Level II forest sites. O₃ measurements at nearby rural open-field sites proved appropriate as surrogates in cases where O₃ data were lacking at forest sites (with altitude-dependent average differences of about 10% between O₃ concentrations). Operational thresholds of biomass loss for both O₃ indices were exceeded at the majority of the forest locations, suggesting similar risk under long-term average climate conditions. However, exposure-based indices estimated higher O₃ risk during dry years as compared to the flux-based approach. In comparison, minor O₃-like leaf injury symptoms were detected only at a few of the forest sites investigated. Relationships between flux-based risk thresholds and tree response need to be established for mature forest stands for validation of predicted growth reductions under the prevailing O₃ regimes.     

生物质能源发展的市场环境培育分析——以湖北省为例

生物质能源作为可再生能源的重要组成部分,其在替代能源、环境保护、减少碳排放,促进农民增效方面具有重要作用。以资源贫乏、能源短缺的湖北省作为生物质能源发展市场环境培育分析的研究对象,具有一定的代表性。通过深入分析生物质能源原料市场、产品市场、技术市场的发展现状,得知生物质能源发展的政策法规不完善、市场保障机制体系不健全、公众能源意识淡薄、投融资体制不顺畅、技术研发创新难是制约其产业发展的主要因素。因此对生物质能源发展的市场环境培育提出3方面建议：在政策法规层面,政府需要制定保护性政策来调控市场,以弥补市场力量的不足,并界定好生物质能源产业的发展方向;在监管体系层面,需要设立严格的生物质能源市场准入门槛和有效的定价机制,防止生物质能源过度发展;在企业经营层面,实施生物质能源企业集群带动战略,提升核心竞争力。     

Nature and prevalence of non-additive toxic effects in industrially relevant mixtures of organic chemicals

The concentration addition (CA) and the independent action (IA) models are widely used for predicting mixture toxicity based on its composition and individual component dose–response profiles. However, the prediction based on these models may be inaccurate due to interaction among mixture components. In this work, the nature and prevalence of non-additive effects were explored for binary, ternary and quaternary mixtures composed of hydrophobic organic compounds (HOCs). The toxicity of each individual component and mixture was determined using the Vibrio fischeri bioluminescence inhibition assay. For each combination of chemicals specified by the 2ⁿ factorial design, the percent deviation of the predicted toxic effect from the measured value was used to characterize mixtures as synergistic (positive deviation) and antagonistic (negative deviation). An arbitrary classification scheme was proposed based on the magnitude of deviation (d) as: additive (10%, class-I) and moderately (10 < d  30%, class-II), highly (30 < d  50%, class-III) and very highly (>50%, class-IV) antagonistic/synergistic. Naphthalene, n-butanol, o-xylene, catechol and p-cresol led to synergism in mixtures while 1, 2, 4-trimethylbenzene and 1, 3-dimethylnaphthalene contributed to antagonism. Most of the mixtures depicted additive or antagonistic effect. Synergism was prominent in some of the mixtures, such as, pulp and paper, textile dyes, and a mixture composed of polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons. The organic chemical industry mixture depicted the highest abundance of antagonism and least synergism. Mixture toxicity was found to depend on partition coefficient, molecular connectivity index and relative concentration of the components.